September 23 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino speaks with a forked tongue. Now he seems to write with one. His letter yesterday to the FIFA Council and the 211 member associations was more about the election campaign than a serious commitment to reform.
As Welsh FA chief executive Noel Mooney noted: “I’ve seen the headlines today about major reform at FIFA – that’s not how the letter read to me, to be honest… it doesn’t actually say FIFA reform itself.
“It talks about reform around strategic projects and initiatives. They would look at how they were consulted and how decisions were made around that.”
Students of Infantino’s media addresses have been treated to some of the most wonderful Alice in Wonderland musings ever written. From his bewildered hour-long rant before Qatar 2022, a classic of its kind, to his endless rant at US President Donald Trump, it’s all been for the good of football. And because in his elevated but detached world he sees himself as the lord of football, he seems to genuinely believe that football serves him (and financially very well) rather than him serving the world game.
Who is serving whom when it comes to Infantino and FIFA was a prominent point in the August joint letter sent by the presidents of UEFA, Concacaf and AFC. And as long as the world’s smallest confederations keep blowing smoke down his back and telling him how smart he is, he’ll keep believing it’s FIFA.
In his letter he says he will ask the FIFA Council if they want to commission an “independent external review”. Haven’t you been listening for the past seven weeks as the organization you lead has faced its biggest institutional crisis, the one it created?
Football people want a root and branch overhaul of FIFA’s entire governance, from its unethical and politically driven ethics and judiciary, to its politically manipulated FIFA Forward allocation of money. They want the culture of “I’ll do a financial favor for you, but you’ll pay for it when the time comes” to end.
But even more than this root-and-branch overhaul, what they really want is Infantino gone.
So do all the major players in football, from leagues and players’ unions to fan groups and the court of public opinion.
The biggest danger to the future of the biggest game in the world right now is Infantino himself. The world is calling for change (not just the world of football), and the longer it stays, the more damage it does to the institution, the international game and everything it purports to represent.
Infantino’s second point in his letter was that he would “propose that the Council establish a direct, structured and time-bound consultation” that would include “practical ways to strengthen transparency, participation and accountability on key strategic initiatives”.
Please enough. It’s too late.
You, Mr. Infantino, have massively exceeded the limits of your competence too many times. Sure the bylaws need to be tightened, but you are not the person to be a part of, as you have failed to do so from the very beginning of your leadership.
Nobody trusts you. No one believes a word that comes out of your mouth. This is yours. This is not due to some fictitious conspiracy of negative thinkers. You have to accept the fact that you are the problem, not the solution.
Infantino then ended his letter with perhaps the most incredible claim of the entire letter, saying that there was never a sale, that it was part of a process, that no decisions had been made.
How stupid do you think your member associations are?
If no decision was made to sell the rights, why was Thrive Capital positioned to take the entire £4.2 billion stake? Why did you offer the member association a $20 million reward with no strings attached if they signed up within the deadline you gave them. Why was there no proper assessment of rights? Why weren’t the rights bid correctly?
In what world does that mean no decision has been made.
Infantino does not address any of the charges brought against him over the past two months and, more importantly, does not address the point that FIFA does not need to raise additional money. It also does not address the request that FIFA immediately put in place plans to release $10 million immediately to each member federation, a request made by three confederation heads. The other three have so far been suspiciously silent on supporting the petition that would solve many problems for their own needy federations.
Mooney said: “The World Cup doesn’t need private capital. They have billions and billions of dollars in reserve. Give us the money. Let’s build the fields. You have a lot of reserves. Let’s have it as soon as possible.”
Paul Nicholson is the editor of Insideworldfootball. Contact him at paul.nicholson@insideworldfootball.com
